Harman Patil (Editor)

West Morris Central High School

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Type
  
Public high school

Faculty
  
100.5 FTEs

Enrollment
  
1,299 (as of 2014-15)

Colors
  
Grey, Columbia blue

Principal
  
Steve Ryan

Grades
  
9-12

Phone
  
+1 908-879-5212

West Morris Central High School

Asst. principals
  
Edward Braun Anne P. Meagher

Address
  
259 Bartley Rd, Chester, NJ 07930, USA

District
  
West Morris Regional High School District

Profiles

West morris central high school


West Morris Central High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Washington Township, Morris County, New Jersey, United States, where the school is located, operating as part of the West Morris Regional High School District. The school has a Chester Township mailing address. Other communities served by the district are Chester Borough, Chester Township, Mendham Borough and Mendham Township, whose students attend West Morris Mendham High School.

Contents

As of the 2014-15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,299 students and 100.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.9:1. There were 16 students (1.2% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and none eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

The school is overseen by the New Jersey Department of Education and has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. The school has offered the IB Diploma Programme, as part of the International Baccalaureate Organization, since January 1998.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 11th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology. The school had been ranked 56th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 43rd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 42nd in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 41st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.

Schooldigger.com ranked the school 92nd out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 32 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (87.1%) and language arts literacy (96.8%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).

In The Washington Post's 2011 issue "Ranking America's High Schools", West Morris Central was ranked 10th in the state and 408th in the nation.

In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 535th in the nation among participating public high schools and 43rd among schools in New Jersey. The school was ranked 226th in the nation and 20th in New Jersey on the list of "America's Best High Schools 2012" prepared by The Daily Beast / Newsweek, with rankings based primarily on graduation rate, matriculation rate for college and number of Advanced Placement / International Baccalaureate courses taken per student, with lesser factors based on average scores on the SAT / ACT, average AP/IB scores and the number of AP/IB courses available to students.

West Morris Central High School History Teacher, Roseanne Lichatin, was named the 2005 Preserve America History Teacher of the Year, and was recognized with the honor by First Lady Laura Bush.

Athletics

The West Morris Central High School Highlanders compete in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference, an athletic conference made up of high schools located in Morris County, Sussex and Warren counties, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). With 964 North II, Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 778 to 1,062 students in that grade range. Prior to the NJSIAA's 2009 realignment, the school had been a member of the Iron Hills Conference.

School colors are Columbia blue and gray. Interscholastic athletic teams at West Morris Central include baseball, basketball (men and women), cross country (men and women), fencing (men and women), field hockey (women), football, golf (men and women), ice hockey (men), lacrosse (men and women), soccer (men and women), softball, swimming (men and women), tennis (men and women), track and field spring (med and women), track and field winter (med and women), volleyball (women) and wrestling.

While the original school mascot was the Highlander, many West Morris Central teams have taken on the name Wolfpack, though some teams still call themselves the Highlanders out of respect for school tradition.

The boys' tennis team won the Group III state championship in 1990, defeating Ramapo High School in the tournament final.

The boys' soccer team won the 2000 Group III state championship after playing Ocean City High School to a 0-0 tie in the title game.

The football team won the North II Group III state sectional championships in 2001, 2004, 2009, and 2012. The 2001 football team won the North II, Group III state championship against West Morris Mendham High School by a score of 15-14. The 2004 football team won the North II, Group III state championship against West Morris Mendham High School by a score of 10-7. The 2009 football team won the North II, Group III state championship against Passaic Valley High School by a score of 28-19.

The girls' lacrosse team won the 2001 North A championship, defeating Bridgewater-Raritan High School 8-7 in the tournament final.

The 2002 girls' softball team won the North II, Group III sectional state championship, edging Cranford High School by a score of 1-0.

The boys' wrestling team won its first ever Iron Hills-Iron title in 2006. The Wolfpack wrestlers were considered as high as number two in the Daily Record area, and was voted a top ten team in Region 1 of NJSIAA wrestling. The team was led under the guidance of Ken Rossi who was a two-time state finalist for Jefferson High School.

The boys' lacrosse team won the Group II state championship in 2007 with an 8-7 win against Ramapo High School in the tournament final.

The 2008-09 girls' basketball team won the Morris County Tournament by advancing to the finals and defeating top-seeded Hanover Park High School by a score of 42-32 for the championship, winning the county title for the third time in program history, having most recently won in 1993.

The 2009 women's volleyball team won the Group III state championship against Northern Highlands High School, for the program's first group title in school history, in a season in which they also won the Morris County Tournament and were American Division champions in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference. The Lady Highlanders currently have the most County Championships in Morris County, including four consecutive MCT titles from 2000 to 2003.

The field hockey team won the North I Group III state sectional championship in 2010 and 2012.

Activities

The clubs at West Morris Central include: Bowling Club, Academy of Science, Art Club, Jazz Band, Book Club, Cheerleading, Chess Club, Color Guard, Concert Choir, Debate Club, Musical, Environmental Club, Film Club, Fly Fishing Club, Future Business Leaders of America, Future Educators, GSA (Gay–straight alliance), Habitat for Humanity, Literary Magazine, Marching Band, Math League, National History Club, Newspaper, Pep Band, Photography Club, Prayer Group, Science League, Self Defense Club, Ski Club, Sound and Lighting, Stage Craft, Student Council, SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), The Howlers (A Capella singing group), STEM Club (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), TV/Radio Club, Veterans Oral History Club, Women's Ensemble and the Yearbook.

West Morris Central has three a cappella groups, the Loreleis, the Noteworthys, and the Howlers. The Loreleis are a student run all-female singing group. The Noteworthys are their counterpart, all-male and student-run singing group. The Howlers are the mixed male and female student run singing group. During the school year, the groups perform in various local places, including the Zion Lutheran Church in Long Valley, New Jersey, and at the Chester Tree Lighting in Chester, New Jersey. Every year in June, they host their own Cabaret in which they sing all of the music they teach themselves in the second semester of the school year.

West Morris participates in the National Honor Society, as well as the French National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society and Chinese National Honor Society.

Notable alumni

  • Michael Burton (born 1992), American football fullback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League.
  • Paulie Malignaggi (born 1980), "The Magic Man", professional boxer who is the former IBF Junior Welterweight World Champion.
  • Bill Stepien (born 1978), political strategist who was Deputy Chief of Staff for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
  • Administration

    Core members of the school's administration are:

  • Steve Ryan, Principal
  • Edward Braun, Assistant Principal
  • Anne P. Meagher, Assistant Principal
  • References

    West Morris Central High School Wikipedia